A Life Changing Date with Upper Cervical
Deidra Bowling-Meade
The Ashland Beacon
“I was 41 years old; he was 31 years old. He had never been married, no children and had his life ahead of him. I told him I needed to be honest with him and spare both of us of a heartbreak.”
On September 22, 2004, Tawnya knew the moment she met Jason Runyon that she had met the love of her life, but she was afraid her happily ever after would never come true.
Tawnya recalled, “After I had my daughter at 23, I became very sick. After lots of specialists and testing, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, and after that diagnosis came a plethora of others. I was also diagnosed with Raynaud’s Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Epstein Barr, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Restless Leg Syndrome, Migraines, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Insomnia, Depression, and the list goes on and on and a list of medications came with it. Every time I went to the doctor, there was another drug and another diagnosis. My kidneys were failing, and I had accepted the fact that lupus patients don’t live long lives. After years of struggling with it, I knew there was nothing else I could do about it….or so I thought!”
Jason’s response to Tawnya’s health wasn’t what she expected. His pickup line was, “You just need your power turned on!”
What was this man even saying? Jason shared with Tawnya that he was an Upper Cervical Chiropractor and could help her. Tawnya was skeptical at first but decided to trust Jason and met him the following day at his office on his day off to get checked out. Tawnya declared, “That was the day my life changed!”
Dr. Runyon shared about his work, “In a nutshell, I focus on the top two vertebrae of the neck, C1 and C2, because those are the two bones that surround and protect the brainstem. The brainstem is the mediator between the brain and body; all communication flows through it. If one of the top two bones of the neck move out of place and put pressure on the brainstem, it decreases your brain to body communication, leading to dis-ease. It's impossible for the body to function properly when this happens.”
Dr. Runyon used the analogy of a power switch to describe how the body works. It’s comparable to having the power turned off to having it then turned back on or restored. “We have an infrared scanner that detects when someone has this pressure on the brainstem and with the use of x-rays, we can determine where that pressure is coming from and make a specific adjustment to the upper cervical spine to remove that pressure, thus restoring full brain to body communication. We do not diagnose or treat any conditions. We just simply turn the power back on so that the body can work and heal the way God designed it.”
Tawnya remembered back on the day she received her first upper cervical adjustment,
“As soon as he adjusted me he told me I needed to lie down for 30 minutes to allow that bone to settle into place and allow that nerve flow to start doing its job. As soon as I laid down I could feel heat flowing into my cold hands and feet. I felt heat flowing down my spine; I was having all kinds of strange sensations. I was terrified. About 15 minutes into my rest time, he came back to check on me and to be honest I was pretty angry, I thought he had hurt me. When I told him what all I had going on, he clapped his hands together and said, ‘outstanding!’”
Wow! This man really knows how to get a reaction. Tawnya was in disbelief. This was definitely a date to remember. Tawnya continued, “He told me I had 15 more minutes to rest, and he would be back in to get me up and get me scanned again and see what it looked like. The change was dramatic! The scan had drastically improved!”
Tawnya’s health continued to dramatically improve. Tawnya proclaimed, “After two weeks of Upper Cervical care, I decided I no longer needed to take all of the prescriptions. I knew I had been healed! I never went back to the rheumatologist. I don’t tell anyone else to do this; it was my own personal decision. I just knew God had healed me, and I knew he used this man to do it! Needless to say, if I thought I loved him before, I knew for a fact I had met my soulmate and the one God had intended for me to be with the rest of my life!”
The couple married Nov. 18, 2009 and worked together sharing with others the benefits Upper Cervical. According to Runyon Upper Cervical website,
Upper Cervical has actually been around since the 1930s when it was developed by Dr. BJ Palmer of Davenport, Iowa. “It does not involve any type of medicine or drugs, surgery or hospital stay. It is a hands-on procedure that focuses entirely on the relationship between the top two bones in the neck (Atlas and Axis) and the brain stem.” There is an extensive list of conditions that respond well to Upper Cervical care, which are listed on the website. Some of those conditions include: acid reflux, ADHD, allergies, high blood pressure, migraines, depression, TMJ, chronic pain, tendonitis, numbness and mobility issues.
A high school graduate from Rock Hill High School in Lawrence County, Ohio, Jason Runyon attended Life University College of Chiropractic, Marietta, GA from 1997-2002. Immediately upon graduating from Life University, he moved to Iowa to work for the inventor of the TyTron, which is the scanner used in his chiropractic office. Dr. Runyon is the only Upper Cervical Chiropractor in the area and will be celebrating 20 years at his practice this June.
Dr. Runyon shared how his practice took off and became a place where people could experience great care. “I opened my office in June 2004. It started out very slow. People had no idea what Upper Cervical Chiropractic was. I spent every day off going out into the community and telling people about it. Many local businesses were kind enough to let me come in and scan their employees and any customers that were interested. It was slow but steady growth for several years, but it was never the booming practice that I had dreamed of. My wife (who by this time was the office manager) and I had strongly considered moving away from here to a larger city in hopes that we could have the practice that we wanted. But one day in the spring of 2010, we told a patient that we were planning on closing the office and move away and told her it was because there wasn't enough interest in Upper Cervical in this area. She was very upset because she had gotten great results and was afraid she would end up sick again. Her husband was a minister and she asked if they could have prayer with Tawnya and myself. We all held hands and bowed our heads and her husband prayed that we would have a busy practice so we would stay in the area. The very next day, the phones would not stop ringing. It was new patient after new patient calling to make appointments because they had been hearing about the wonderful results we were getting at the office. Our practice took off from that day forward. There is power in prayer!”
As you enter the office of Runyon’s Upper Cervical Chiropractic, the verse from 1 Timothy 4:14 is on the wall: “Neglect not the gift that is in thee.” This verse is significant two-fold. It is a reminder to Dr. Runyon not to become careless and neglect the calling or wonderful opportunity that has been given. Also, the power that made the body heals the body. We have to decide if we will allow that to happen. It’s not Dr. Jason Runyon doing the healing; it’s God’s power and using him as the instrument to do it.
Dr. Runyon sees patients of all ages. He shared, “I've adjusted babies as young as two days old and people up into their 90s. We have seen people with all kinds of illnesses and disabilities. We have hundreds of Amish patients because like Tawnya and myself, they prefer a more natural, drug free approach to health.”
As stated on Runyon Upper Cervical Chiropractic, “If you have a health problem or if you are healthy and just want to stay healthy then Upper Cervical is for you! Everyone of us, regardless of age, sex or condition has a nervous system that controls and coordinates all our bodily functions. Maintaining the health of your nervous system is vital to living a healthy life.”
Runyon Upper Cervical Chiropractic is located at 2412 Argillite Road in Flatwoods. To learn more about Runyon Upper Cervical Chiropractic, visit the website at: www.uppercervicalchiropractor.com or call the office 606.833.9355.